The end of summer doesn’t mean the end to maintaining your yard, especially if you want a lush lawn come spring. Fall lawn care plays a vital role for healthier grass during all seasons. Discover tips to keep your turf in top shape now.

1. Keep Going with the Mowing

Don’t stop mowing your lawn when summer ends. Lawn maintenance, like mowing and watering, should continue until early winter or when the grass stops growing. As autumn comes to a close, make your two last mowings shorter than usual. Taller grass is more likely to be damaged by the weight of leaves and snow. Allowing some sun to reach the soil helps keep things dryer and grass is less likely to be susceptible to moisture-loving diseases.

2. Fertilizing and Fall Lawn Care

September is the perfect time to start strengthening your lawn by fertilizing. Feed the grass once early in the month and again in a month or two and your lawn benefits beautifully. Grass that suffered from heat, drought, and other stresses over the summer gets the nutrition it needs now to grow deep roots and survive during winter.

3. Making Raking a Priority

Many people wait to rake the lawn until the end of fall to avoid repeating the chore. But it’s better for the grass if you remove leaves more often. Rain and morning dew create a carpet of damp leaves that not only smothers grass and blocks out sunlight, but is also a breeding ground for fungal diseases.

4. Aerate

Thatch, a buildup of dead grass and debris, prevents light, water, and nutrients from reaching the lawn’s roots if the layer becomes too thick over the summer. In fall, check that the layer is under an inch. Aeration is a process that breaks up thatch and soil that’s been compacted over the high-traffic months. By creating a series of holes in the lawn, oxygen and nutrients reach the root systems better. It’s good to aerate before fertilizing to optimize the intake of nutrients.

5. The Need for Seed

Seeding bare spots or overseeding an existing lawn gives grass the entire winter to grow deep, strong root systems. In fall, the ground is still relatively warm, but the sun isn’t as hot. Roots develop more slowly, creating a stronger, denser, healthier lawn in spring that is better equipped to ward off weeds.

Let Us Help You with Fall Lawn Care

To ensure each step is done at the right time and to alleviate the challenges of renting and handling heavy equipment, let a pro tend to your fall lawn care. Contact Free Spray Lawn Care today at 419-529-5296, and we’ll work on your lawn now so it flourishes beautifully in the future.